Celebrating pioneers of child and adolescent mental health

SIR: By various accounts, majority of children in sub-Saharan Africa face a life of poverty, insecurity and poor mental health. These factors hinder their ability to develop into healthy adults, live an improved quality of life and fulfil their life aspirations. Until recently, virtually all social and health interventions for children had focused on the major causes of mortality to the neglect of mental health issues and social problems that have serious consequences for children’s growth and development and the society at large.

Despite the identified burden of mental health problems in children, there are very few services for child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) care in sub-Saharan Africa and a lack of trained professionals. There was also no regular or coordinated training of health professionals for child and adolescent mental health care until recently. What this means is that the majority of African children with disabling mental disorders go untreated and children within the community do not have access to mental health promoting services or environments. There is no doubt that with the present problems of insecurity and violence in several African countries including Nigeria, the mental health burden will be rising.

To bridge this huge gap in mental health care for children and adolescents, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation provided funding to the University of Ibadan to establish a Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. In the last 18 months, the centre has had the privilege to train mental health professionals from different regions of Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Today, Monday June 16, the centre will celebrate 13 successful students who completed a rigorous 18 month Master of Science programme in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (MSc. CAMH), first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. This landmark ceremony will hold in the Paul Hendrickse Lecture Theatre, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.

Coincidentally, the milestone event holds on the occasion of the 2014 Day of the African Child, a yearly event to commemorate the public killing of school children in a protest against apartheid-inspired education in Soweto, South Africa, in 1976. The Day also presents an opportunity to focus on the roles of all stakeholders involved in upholding the rights of the African Child, and to renew efforts towards eliminating the existing obstacles to the realization of these rights.

This year has as its theme – “Right to participate: Let children be seen and heard”, aimed at generating increased awareness about the need to promote emotional and mental health of African children.